5 Ways to Stay Focused to Achieve your Creative Goals

Hi and welcome back to another week in the Chrissie Murphy Designs blog. Today I’m sharing about 5 Ways to Stay Focused to Achieve your Creative Goals. As an Expressive, one of the best times we experience is the conception of an idea or a goal. When you catch a glimpse of what it is you’ve been called to do, and you begin dreaming about how it may come to pass, your heart swells with excitement. It’s about here that you realise focus will need to become a priority, if you’re going see the idea or goal reach it’s fullness.

Yesterday, I met my friend for lunch amid a downpour! There has been torrential rain where I live, so much rain that we’ve had some local road closures. All the talk in town is around flooding – “how big a flood will it be?” is the question on everyone’s lips. My friend said that she had heard we are destined for 1 metre of rain over the next week! And just yesterday, there had been over 250 mils of rain recorded in our catchment. Overnight we’ve had even more rainfall, with another 220 mils or so, and renewed river rises predicted for today and tomorrow.

But why do you need to know this? Well, these are the things that have been influencing my community this week, it’s what everyone’s been talking about. But through all of it, the Lord has been gently prompting me, saying “Focus Chrissie – Focus on what you’ve been called to do.” Even when my community and everything around me is being influenced by other things, amid all the noise, it’s still important for me to focus.

Today’s blog post is about 5 ways to stay focused to achieve your creative goals…. Particularly when, there’s a whole lot of other stuff going on around you. So let’s get straight into it.

1. Commit your plans to the Lord.

One of the most precious times to connect with the Creator, is during the conception of an idea or goal. Let me say it this way… You’ve got to begin with God!

In Psalm 37:5 it says, “Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you.” And in Proverbs 16:3 it says, “Commit your actions to the LORD, and your plans will succeed.”

The key word here is commit. When you commit your plans to the Lord, you are trusting (by faith) that He will lead you and guide you in those plans. The two verses say, that when you commit everything you do to the Lord, and you trust Him, He will help you and your plans will succeed.

So, first and foremost before anything else happens… whatever goal or idea it is that you have, you must commit your plans to the Lord. In doing so, He will shape and define your focus going forward. All the other points below, hinge on His direction being made known, before you go any further.

2. Plan to focus.

This is a simple no brainer, you have to plan to be focused. Physically schedule time into your day (create appointments in your calendar if necessary) where you are dedicating yourself to a time of focus. Be strict with yourself and stick to it because focus needs to become a priority.

3. Socialise and connect with people who are already living what you’re trying to achieve.

When you surround yourself with people who are already living the life you’re trying to carve out for yourself, you set yourself up for success. These people will speak into your life, and through them, and their experiences, you’ll gain insight into things you can do to succeed in achieving the goal you’re working on. They will sharpen your focus.

I liken them to a racehorse wearing blinders (aka blinkers). The blinders help the racehorse filter out the distractions of the other horses so it performs better.

When you socialise and engage with other people who are already living the goal you’re trying to achieve, they help you filter out the distractions and show you what you should be focusing on instead, by being the example.

So get out there, join communities, surround yourself with people who are already living the goal you’re walking towards.

4. Act like you have already achieved the goal you set out to do.

This is similar to the point above, but it’s one more step that can help to provide clearer and more intense focus on obtaining your goal. When you act, or make decisions and plans, with a mindset like you have already achieved the goal you’re dreaming of, the unnecessary baggage you’ve been carrying seems to fall by the wayside. All the things that were obstacles, things that were cluttering the way for you to move forward, they suddenly disappear, and focus becomes a bi-product that occurs naturally.

5. There’s nothing wrong with seeking out practical help.

Do you know there are apps out there that can help you stay focused? Probably the biggest, and most successful focus app, is called “Forest”. Forest is a great little app for helping you to maintain and achieve focus, that can be applied in many different circumstances when it comes to creating. It’s on the App Store and well worth the investment if you are in need of practical help to stay focused.

So there you have it. By living (and applying) these 5 ways to stay focused, my goal for this week (writing this blog post) was achieved, even though lots of other things were going on around me. And you know what? Lots of other things are going to continue to happen.

If you’re waiting for the perfect time to come to achieve something, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but the perfect time is never going to come! The time to act is now, despite what’s going on around you. Understand, that even though lots of things are happening, some things even involve you, you can remain focused throughout it all. The Lord is directing your plans because you committed them to Him in the beginning, and you’ve chosen to trust Him. He will help you to achieve your creative ideas and goals in the most fulfilling of ways.

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Until next time, listen to your heart and sharpen your coloured pencils. A masterpiece awaits!

Bless you my friend

Chrissie xx